Sweethearts and Superchargers
by Blu Wolf 23
Summary: AU. Vanellope has two great passions in her life. Racing and her friends. Sadly, being a glitch prohibits her from racing legally. One fateful night, she and her friends are given the dream shot. Going up against the best racers of all time. To get there, they will have to burn rubber, trade paint and dodge the law in a quest to go from zeroes to racing heroes. Buckle up!


Chapter 1  
Starting some trouble

It was that time of year again, Spring Break. The Gamer and his family would be gone for quite awhile. Seven days at the minimum if not more. Normally this would leave the many occupants of the G-Station Console with nothing to do, but they were a bright bunch. They knew that this was the time when they could refine their skills, settle rivalries with other characters or just relax if need be.

Vanellope wasn't one for resting. If she wasn't racing, she wasn't just sitting at home doing nothing. She was practicing for the next race or hanging out with her friends. She lived for the rush of acceleration and the thrill of avoiding the chaos of a pile up. Right now, she was making her way to the Hard Drive. The urban hub of the console. It was here that her kart was stored along with the equipment of other characters.

She wasn't dressed in her racing suit, much to her discontent. Instead she was dressed in her everyday attire, brown skirt with mint green pants with white stripes, black boots, and mint green hoodie with red licorice strings. Her hair was up in a ponytail, tied up via a string of red licorice. A colorful array of various candy was stuck in her hair after the simple task of making an anniversary desert for her parents went horribly wrong. Despite the best efforts of everyone, the candy bits remained in her hair to this day.

That had been back in the good old days. Before the divorce, and when her dad was still alive.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by the familiar WAKA WAKA WAKA noise of a pedestrian. She moved to the side as Pac-Man passed her. Most likely on his way to yet another party at the Motherboard. She passed through a shiny blue wall of energy as she officially entered the Hard Drive. On either side of the black road were towering rectangular structures. Each structure had about three or four small elevators that went up their sides along with a pair of massive cargo elevators meant for moving vehicles or other large pieces of equipment. One of these elevators was in use now, as a fighter jet was lowered in from the upper floors. The Surge Protectors in charge of moving it were shouting instructions to one another as they pulled the plane out from the cargo elevator and out onto the road.

Vanellope was forced to stop, as she didn't want to accidentally get caught in a loading operation. The lead surge protector typed a command into his tablet and the jet turned into a cluster of green pixels which were absorbed by the road. A pulse of blue energy shot up the road, whisking the jet away to the game that was requesting it. Vanellope was surprised, the load time for that jet had been incredibly short despite its size. Perhaps it was due to the fact that the console was relatively inactive at the time.

She continued walking, making her way to the building where she was meeting her friends before they went out for lunch. Upon arrival, she got on a vacant elevator and took it to the top floor. The doors slowly opened, revealing the garage that held her kart.  
A large pair of bare feet were sticking out from under the vehicle, along with the sounds of tools in use and the occasional incoherent grumble. Sitting on the hood of the kart, sucking on a lolly pop was a girl wearing black boots, grey jeans, a green zip up sweater with black strings, a large pair of headphones around her neck, and finally a pair of goggles sitting atop her head. She had green eyes a light red hair that seemed a little orange in the right lighting. The two girls were of the same age, fourteen, while he was seventeen.

"Ralph, V's here." She said hopping off the kart and walking over to her friend.

"Hey Roxie." Vanellope said with a wave.

"What's up?" Her friend asked.

"Not much, just anxious about tonight. I heard that the Surge Protectors are stepping up patrols."

Vanellope then noticed that Ralph was emerging from his work. He was dressed in his typical attire. Maroon pants, no shoes, a green t-shirt under his red plaid flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbow. His face had streaks of oil and grease across it and his spiky brown hair hadn't faired much better.

"Hey V!" He said happily.

She just grinned, he always seemed happier when she was around.

"So where are we going?" Roxie asked.

"Well, I was thinking Tappers. Pizza and root beer sounds great." Vanellope replied.

"I'm cool with that." Ralph replied.

"Same here, although you should probably wash up Ralph." Roxie suggested.

"Good idea, I'll met you two downstairs." He replied before heading for the washroom.

The two girls hopped into the elevator and took it to the bottom floor. Ralph followed them shortly after. Soon the trio was on the street making their way to Tappers.

...

"Ok guys, here you go. One large pepperoni pizza. Enjoy!" The mustached man said putting the pan pizza down on the table.

"Thanks Tapper!" The trio said before taking a slice of pizza for themselves (or in Ralph's case four slices).

"Alright you guys before we dig in, I purpose a toast. To tomorrow, may it never change us or our friendship." Vanellope said, raising her mug into the air.

"Here here." Ralph replied, lightly tapping her glass with his.

"I can drink to that." Roxie said with a grin, putting a little more force into her glass tap.

Each member of the trio then took a large sip of their drinks before putting them back down on the table.

"Hey Rox, are you and your boyfriend going to the big dance that's in a few days?" Vanellope asked.

"Eh maybe, you know me V. I was never one for makeup, dresses and high heels or dancing for that matter." She replied.

"If you do go, it should be for the heck of it. Know what I mean?" Ralph asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Roxie replied.

"He's right, trust me. When your sitting at home realizing everyone else is out having fun, it's a sucky feeling." Vanellope added.

"Didn't you go with Rancis last year?" Roxie asked.

"Nope, he dumped me remember?" Her friend replied.

"Oh yeah, right I remember now."

Vanellope turned her head to look at the clock on the wall.

"I better get going, see you guys later!" She said getting up and leaving.

Her friends waited until she was out of earshot before resuming their conservation.

"Alright Ralphy, I've seen that look before. What's up?" Roxie asked.

He sighed directing his gaze to his drink.

"I thought I had this handled." He replied.

"Are you saying what I think your saying?" She asked

"We'll if you think I'm saying that I'm still head over heels for my best friend...then yes." He replied.

...

Vanellope opened the door to her home, which was large European style castle made out of candy. According to her backstory, she was royalty. Which made zero sense, because she acted nothing like your average princess. She strode through the elegant salmon colored halls in search of her family. The loud Johnny Cash music coming from the study indicated that her uncle was indeed awake and most likely drunk. Now, he was technically her uncle. They were in no way related, but he was a good friend of the family and so from a young ages he had referred to him as uncle. Since then, the title had stuck.

She opened the door to the study, finding her uncle sitting on her father's favorite recliner. He had his old bright white racing helmet and was muttering something about finding a groove. In his hand was a large bottle of whiskey which was practically empty.

"Uncle Turbo, you know how my mom is about your drinking."

"She'd drink too if he was in my shoes." He replied drearily.

"I highly doubt that." She replied.

"Whatever you say." He grumbled, taking another swig.

Ever since his game had been traded in, many years ago, Turbo had turned into a hermit and a drunk. He rarely left the castle, and the only time he did was to watch Vanellope race or get more pain killers to help him cope with the injuries that left him crippled after a multi kart crash. These injuries had left him to walk with a very noticeable limp.

"Are you coming out tonight?" She asked.

"Yeah, probably?"

"Just wondering, but if you do come out. Try to come sober ok? The last thing we need is you starting another brawl." She chided.

"Ten-four." He replied.

She exited the room with a sigh, leaving the door cracked open.

This allowed the washed up racer to listen in on a brief exchange between Vanellope and her mother.

"Hey sweetie, I was hoping that maybe tonight we could go catch movie tonight or something. Maybe go bowling. Just the two of us."

"Not tonight mom, I'm already going out with some friends later. Maybe some other time." She replied.

"Oh...ok. Maybe tomorrow then." Her mother murmured.

Turbo laughed as he gulped down the last of his whiskey.

The irony of the situation was hilarious.

...

Later that evening, an abandoned building in the heart of the Hard Drive was filled with racers of all ages along with their crews. This was the underground, racers who weren't allowed to race in games because of varying reasons. Some refused to be controlled by the player, others didn't race in their normal games and so turned to the underground to experience the rush. Then there were those who were like Vanellope. Characters who weren't even supposed to exist: Glitches.

This was a place where they could gather. Where they could feel apart of a community, who understood them. No one could judge them here. That's why Vanellope felt more at home here, in a dank warehouse filled with karts, lots of wonderfully strange people and awesome music.

When the trio arrived, the party was in full swing. The last karts were arriving and bets were being placed. In the far corner of the warehouse was the chalk board that showed the evening's route and the bracket for that evening. Vanellope grinned, she was in the first heat. The route was typical for the evening. A standard circuit that went around heavily populated areas of the Hard Drive where law abiding characters would still be driving or walking around.

Our heroine's competitors, a few wannabes that were fairly new to the underground. Along with some seasoned veterans (such as herself). She didn't know most of them except by name. This first heat wouldn't pit her against any of her rivals like Thomas or Kat. None of her other friends, like Roxie or JJ were racing. In fact JJ wasn't even in the warehouse, he must of been on the roof keeping watch.

After all his kart had been totaled in a race with Daylon a week ago.

Roxie would be at the DJ station mixing until her replacement arrived in a couple of hours.

Ralph would be working on her kart until then, getting it ready for her heat.

"Alright racers, to your karts. The first race of the night will start in just a few minutes!" Roxie announced via a mega phone.

Vanellope grinned and zipped up her pure black racing suit. She then put on her helmet and hopped into her kart. Engines roared to life as people began to cheer. Roxie took it up and notch and got the crowd pumped up. People were hooting and hollering as engines revved. Then warehouse doors directly in front of the racers flung open. Tires screeched and smoke filled the air as the karts took off. Vanellope rocketed ahead of two of her fellow racers, thanks to her quick reflexes. When the doors had opened, she was one of the first to slam on the accelerator.

The karts sped down the street, drifting around corners and occasionally trading paint. Vanellope shifted up a gear and attempted to pass the white muscle kart directly in front of her. Compared to her lighter more sporty kart, this hulking machine had a higher top speed but slower acceleration. Vanellope took advantage of this and as they went into the next turn, she hugged the corner and sped out of the turn overtaking her competitor.

They were racing through the older section of the Hard Drive, the place that stored the data for games that weren't played much anymore, like Fix it Felix. Some of these buildings had been abandoned. Like the building that used to house the characters of Turbo Time. Soon they would be on the outskirts of the newer section of the Hard Drive. Where characters from All-Star Racing, Heroes Duty and Sugar Rush lived. Vanellope knew that if the Surge Protectors caught her in their, there was a good chance her mother would see it all go down. Even if she didn't, they'd be in the heart of Surge Protector turf. Getting away would be tough. If she was caught, that was it. No more warnings. She'd be arrested and held in jail until a parental figure arrived to take her home.

Being grounded for life wouldn't be very fun, so it was imperative she go through that segment of town as quickly as possible and avoid the Surge Protectors.

...

"Cops!"

Ralph yelped and bashed his head on the underside of Roxie's kart when he heard this, practically knocking himself out. He emerge from the underside of the vehicle to see everyone running in panic. Karts were starting up and peeling out as the sound of sirens got closer to the warehouse.

The Surge Protectors must of knew there was a race going on tonight, because they had gotten here pretty quick. Ralph noticed a person in a black hoodie fleeing on foot. An abnormal sight considering the fact that most people just hopped into the kart of a racer they knew instead of just hoofing it.

"Ralph, let's split bro!" Roxie shouted as she fired up her sleek black exotic kart.

He nodded and hopped onto the back of the kart.

The duo then fled the scene a Surge Protectors stormed the building.

...

A group of karts had stopped at an intersection up ahead. Vanellope squinted to see why they had stopped but still couldn't see. She could hear them revving their engines.

Something was up.

As she got closer, she yelped and yanked on the speed brake.

Her tires screeched as she slid between two karts, trading a bit of paint with them and coming to a near halt in the center of the intersection. Across from her fellow racers were a group of black cars with bright blue flashing lights atop them. On the side of their doors were the words Surge Protectors in white bold lettering.

Vanellope accelerated away off the race route as the cops and her fellow racers gave chase. She didn't know what was funnier. The fact that she was in place thanks to the cops or that her fellow racers broke their stand off with the police in order to continue the race, seeing it as more important.

Behind her, chaos was ensuing.

A Surge Protector t-boned a nice looking exotic kart, sending it spinning off the road. One Surge Protector was caught between two racers who were continually bumping him into the other. One racer was trading paint with a cop, before passing him and the competitor was being rear ended by the same cop.

She chuckled at the madness in her rear view mirrors as she drifted around the corner, passing Tapper's restaurant. Suddenly from out of the alley to her right came a orange exotic kart. It aggressively cut her off and then proceeded ahead with rapid acceleration.

Vanellope hit the button on her steering wheel, the engine hissed and whined as nitrous was engaged. She was pressed into her seat as the car surged forward, catching up with the orange exotic. She scowled and sideswiped the vehicle, taking off quite a bit of paint and leaving some nasty dents and scratches. The exotic lost control and spun out as Surge Protector vehicles quickly surrounded him or her.

Our heroine yelped and came to a screeching halt.

A dead end.

She had been so busy focusing on the crash of the exotic that she had failed to notice she had driven down a wide alley. Skillfully she whipped the car around so that she could leave. Only to find two Surge Protector cars blocking the exit. She revved her engine and narrowed her eyes. Her tires screeched as she did a burnout and was sent rocketing forward.

Hopefully this worked.

With a crash, she smashed through the cars and turned hard right as she came out of the alley. Only to be met with a head on collision a dark blue car equipped with flashing red lights on its roof. The car has a nice looking spoiler and a loud snarling engine. It had a gold badge on the hood. A shield with a two crossed lighting bolts over it. A car that could only belong to the Chief of Police.

A car that she had just totaled.

Vanellope groaned as she tried to focus. She was still dazed from the crash , but noticed that she was being pulled from her kart by a blue spiky haired hedgehog.

"Ms. Von Schweetz. You're under arrest." He chided.

"Aw crap." She murmured.

...

A.N- I hope you liked this alternate take on these awesome characters. As we move along in this story I'll do my best to better describe the vehicles that are being driven. It will be a learning process for someone who doesn't know all that much about cars. This story is meant to be pretty light and fun, which will be a nice contrast from all the serious fics I'm writing. I look forward to answering any questions and reading your reviews!

Until next time,

Wolf out!


End file.
